Saturday, May 10, 2014

Around 1923 Alfred B. Maclay and his wife Louise bought an old hunting plantation north of Tallahassee. They made the estate their winter home, naming it Killearn Gardens. Most of the original plantings in the gardens were winter bloomers, because the Maclays were back in New York or elsewhere the rest of the year.

Since then, Killearn Gardens has become one of Florida's state parks and a year-round destination for the area's runners. The Maclays were almost certainly gone from their winter retreat by Mothers Day each year, but since 2004 the Marzuq Shrine Temple has invited athletes to race in their annual Mothers Day 5K through Maclay Gardens State Park. This year was no exception, and on Saturday morning, 10 May 2014, more than one hundred assembled near the park's Lake Hall recreation area for the eleventh running of the 3.1-mile race.

Vince Molosky had won the race in 2013, and almost immediately grabbed the lead this year. By the mile mark he was over half a minute ahead of the next runner, and at one point he enjoyed a lead of more than a minute. Eric Godin started to eat into that lead during the last half mile, but Molosky was too far ahead. Molosky won his second straight Mothers Day 5K title, running 17:13. Godin was second in 18:21, and Reikan Lin placed third in 19:37. Crawfordville master runner Duane Evans was fourth overall in 19:51.

Renee Cox took the women's title, coming in fifth overall in 20:40. Cox, the women's runner-up in 2013, led the women's field the entire way this year. Urska Dobersek was the second woman finisher, eighth overall in 22:08. Dylan Snowden was the third woman, 21st in 25:13. Right behind Snowden was the first woman master, Birgit Maier-Katkin, 22nd overall in 25:14.

As it traditional in the Marzuq Temple's Mothers Day 5K, each award winner in the race received a cake. No statistics are available on how many cakes survived to make it home to mom.

Top Ten Men, 2014 Marzuq Mothers Day 5K

17:13 ~ Vince Molosky (M, 34)

18:21 ~ Eric Godin (M, 30)

19:37 ~ Reikan Lin (M, 24)

19:51 ~ Duane Evans (M, 46)

20:55 ~ Mike LaBossiere (M, 48)

21:16 ~ Chuck Bruce (M, 35)

22:23 ~ Barney Ray (M, 51)

22:50 ~ Ned Luczynsk (M, 56)

23:03 ~ Buddy Levins (M, 60)

23:34 ~ Spencer Ansellem (M, 12)

Top Ten Women, 2014 Marzuq Mothers Day 5K

20:40 ~ Renee Cox (F, 26)

22:08 ~ Urska Dobersek (F, 31)

25:13 ~ Dylan Snowden (F, 23)

25:14 ~ Birgit Maier-Katkin (F, 51)

26:03 ~ Summer Robinson (F, 18)

26:52 ~ Diana Caldwell (F, 57)

26:55 ~ Ericka McKibbin (F, 41)

27:35 ~ Allie Caldwell (F, 23)

27:52 ~ Tracy Davy (F, 50)

29:24 ~ Carrie Smith (F, 39)

29:42 ~ Perha Varley (F, 69)

Marzuq Shriners' Mother's Day 5K Champions, 2004-2014

Date

Men

Women

8 May 2004

19:42, Scott Ruplinger

25:33, Penny Isom

7 May 2005

?

?

13 May 2006

18:27, David Yon

19:27, Laura Hempel

12 May 2007

18:03, Martin Sykut

19:04, Lisa Johnson

10 May 2008

19:30, James Dexter

20:19, Sheryl Rosen

9 May 2009

18:13, Myles Gibson

22:41, Angela Dempsey

8 May 2010

19:10, Mickey Moore

22:29, Fran McLean

7 May 2011

18:33, Stephen Robbins

20:36, Micah Adriani

12 May 2012

16:08, Kevin Sullivan

17:53, Sheryl Rosen

11 May 2013

17:22, Vince Molosky

19:49, Katie Showman

10 May 2014

17:13, Vince Molosky

20:40, Renee Cox

Any leads on the 2005 results would be deeply appreciated. Contact me!